A compact THz - Free Electron Laser facility known as Delhi Light Source
DLS is equipped with a RF photocathode electron gun, high power RF system, an advanced fibre laser system (presently used nano-second laser will be replaced soon by a femto-second (fs) Fibre laser system), the Undulator magnet, the Photocathode deposition systems, various electromagnets, the beam transport, the beam diagnostic devices and THz detectors. Soon the THz transport line and THz frequency detection system will be installed.
The electron beam produced from the RF photocathode electron gun by using the nano-second laser system is already being delivered to the researchers and the scheduled experiments are taking place time to time. Simultaneously, the RF conditioning of the electron gun to achieve higher accelerating field is also going on. Till now, the energy of the electron beam was measured above 6 MeV when the final design goal is 8 MeV which is expected to be achieved in next few months.
The electron beam presently produced with the help of nano-second laser is going to be replaced soon by an advanced Fibre-Laser system of having pulse width of a few hundreds of femto-seconds. The development of the femto-second fibre laser system is complete and it will be commissioned in the DLS facility shortly. This will improve the quality of the electron beam in terms of energy spread, beam size, beam current, emittance, etc. The improved quality of the electron beam will also help to enhance the intensity and to decrease the line width of the THz radiation going to be produced with the help of the Undulator.
Initiative is being taken to develop the experimental groups and to perform experiments by using the electron beam and the THz radiation. A workshop regarding the availability of the electron beam and invitation of research proposal has been conducted in Dec. 2023. An international workshop regarding the availability and usage of intense THz radiation will be conducted in Oct. 2024.